Calling all Russian submarine fans

[Timmy C]

I found this photo of a Typhoon on Finescale's forum:

[Atma]

Nice picture Timmy, thanks for sharing it

[California Bound]

Nice find Timmy.

That will definitely be useful.
It looks like 7 blades?
Are there any photos showing how the front of that entire horizontal area attaches to the hull? I've found two drawings, but they don't agree with each other.

Dan.

[Timmy C]

Yes, seven blades.

As to how it's connected, this photo seems to indicate that it fairs into the hull sides.

In other news, I just finished a quick and dirty OOB build of the 1/700 Hobby Boss kit. While an improvement over previous plastic kits, there are significant errors and omissions (which I've not bothered to fix as it's a gift for someone who does not have such a familiarity with the vessels).
Errors include the following:
-wrong propeller blades (six instead of seven and wrong shape); the cowling for them could be made much thinner
-possible omission of the fairing between hull and aft planes (if above picture is to be interpreted such)
-lack of bilge keels and rear coolant scoops (assuming the real ones are fixed and not retractable; if retractable, there are molded outlines in the approximate area where they would be),
-wrong/too basic missile hatch shapes
-torpedo tube holes are molded as simple open holes
-lack of distinct bridge windows (though the panel lines can be adapted for the the two main windows, as I did)
-too many bloody bumps on the top of the hull, not all of which can be proven as existing. Some of them are arguably justifiable and can be seen in photos as retractable, but most of them not
-indents in the hull when they should be flush
-anechoic tile pattern lines too deep and too far apart.

Any ways, this is what I ended up with (have since fixed some of the black that's gone over the red):

[California Bound]

Thanks Timmy,

That photo does seem to confirm one of the drawings. Unfortunately, the area of exact interest still isn't seen.

Your sub looks pretty good. I like the worn effect on the trailing edges. And your (conning tower?) seems to be shaped better than mine. That's another plus.

Dan.

[Timmy C]

Thanks Dan.

I think the trailing edges were merely flukes (hah!)

I also do have some concern that the HB kit is slightly too long or the sail too small, though I haven't measured it.

Which kit do you have?

Edit: I went and measured it; using Wikipedia's figure of 175m overall, the kit is basically accurate. Which means that it's the sail that's too small, making the model's proportions look too long.

[California Bound]

From what I can tell, a length of 170m or 175m is a rounding off of an actual length of 172m and a width of 23.3m.

I'm going to be starting the 1/350 Dragon this weekend for the Russian group build. Compared to drawings, its sail is shaped wrong in just about every way possible. As the most visible area of the boat, I wasn't expecting that.

Dan.

[Atma]

If someone wants an accurate 1/700 edition of a Typhoon class this is your kit:



You can order it online here:
http://www.okbgrigorov.com/

[Timmy C]

Without a doubt! The only thing that could be added would be the various periscopes and antennas.

[Atma]

Pictures of the fire damage in the K-84 Ekaterinburg, the Delta IV class submarine from 29 December 2011:





A commission will study the damage to the submarine and determine whether it is economical to repair it. A Severodvinsk shipyard spokesperson said that the repairs will take more than a year.

[Atma]

A rare picture of K-114 Tula a Delta IV class submarine:

Notice the removeable satellite antenna and the thick blue ice.

[Atma]

Some more pictures of Delta IV class submarines:
Delta IV underside:

And Delta IV class submarine, K-51 Verkhoturye in 2010 in drydock:

[Atma]

Lets post some photos of Delta I and Delta II class submarines:
Delta I K-460 in 1975 breaking the ice:

Delta II K-182(The lead ship of Delta II), 1977:

Delta II submarine in mid 1990's:

Two Dleta II submarines in late 1970's:

Delta II submarine with an unknown object in her sail(probably experimental):

Delta II K-92, 1993:

Delta I K-500 submarine in 1983 preparing for an overhaul:

and
Delta I K-385 in 1988 in floating drydock :

Delta I class submarines in late '90's waiting for scrapping:


A Delta I class submarine receiving a R-29 missle in 1975:

And last picture, detail of the sail of a Delta I or Delta II submarine from late 1970's

[Atma]

Time for some photos Delta III class submarines, the longest serving SSBN's at the moment in any navy.
Notice the difference between Delta IV and Delta III missle hatches:
Delta IV:

Delta III:

Two Delta III submarine's:

Delta III:

Delta III:

Delta III:

Nice details on a Delta III K-44 Ryazan's hull:

The following pictures is from Delta III K-223 Podolsk in drydock June 2011:

[nfrancis3]

Atma:

Love the pics. Do you have nay info/pictures that help differentiate between Akula I/Imp/II/III??? I'm always stuck when it comes to the differences...

Thanks,

Nick

[Atma]

This is a nice picture/diagram popular in internet:

The first submarine is:Akula-III (project 971M)
Second:Akula-II (project 971U)
Third:Akula-I Improved (project 971I)
Last:Akula-I (project 971)

Its very hard to distinguish Akula-I/Akula-I Improved/Akula-II while they are in sea. Akula-III is easy as there is only one ship commissioned and she dosent have the tearshaped dome on the aft fin.
From the 15 completed Akula class submarines only 10 are still in service, with one Akula-II licensed for use by the Indian Navy.

[Atma]

This diagram shows all Akula's minus the Akula-III:

Akula-III is larger and has also larger Sail, and of course not tearshaped dome in her fin, compare the size of the Akula-III with an Akula-II:





And now for something completely different, billiard on Akula:

[nfrancis3]

Thank you very much sir!

[_viper_]

Atma, those are some great pics (I especially appreciate the ones of the Deltas!). Thanks!!!

Nfrancis3, to complement what Atma said the most striking "out of the water" feature of the Akula III (which is, by the way, a one-class boat) is also the shape of the sail.
Take a look at these pictures:

Akula I-Ii-II sail:

(see how the sail fairs very gently into the hull - "limousine" type the Russians call it and the access hatch in front of the sail)

Akula III sail:

(see how much steeper the sail walls are, almost like a western sub and also notice the "bulge" at the very top above the SOKS sensors in front of the "cockpit" windshield).

Another distinctive mark of the Akula III is that they have introduced two "cartridges" on each side of the hull, just above the waterline and slightly forward of the sail, that house inflatable rafts as an additional safety mean.
Here you can see them blown open:


Finally, as Atma said, Akula II and Akula I/Ii are almost impossible to tell when in the water, except if you are able to look at the pennant number: to my knowledge the only boat completed to the Akula II standard is K-157 "Vepr". Takle into account that Akula II's are 1m longer than the standard I/Ii boats.

HTH

[Atma]

Time to post pictures of my favourite russian submarines, the Yankee class !
K-399 in April 1970:

K-219 December 1973:

K-210 in September 1969 during trails:

The first Yankee class submarine to commisioned, K-137 on trails in 1968:

K-451 on trails February 1971:

K-32, mid '70's:

Loading a torpedo with nuclear warhead:

K-434, December 1982:

K-241 with experimental Sail, in December 1979:

K-389's propellers:

And K-399's:

One more closeup:

K-444 in June 1989:

The single class Yankee II:

Nice details of Yankee II's missle hatches:


Yankee II geting her P-31 missile:

Yankee II on trails:

And finnaly Yankee II on port with Yankee I sumbarines, 1987: